By Lamin Njie
The Gambia government has said in a report that 13 percent of The Gambia’s adult population suffer from mental illness.
The Gambia government on Thursday presented the country’s report on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights at its 64th session currently holding in Egypt. The report addresses human rights issues in The Gambia spanning over 20 years.
According to the report, Gambians who suffer from mental illness “should enjoy full human rights, including the right to appropriate health care, education, shelter and employment, and the freedom from discrimination and abuse.”
The report said: “Communities in The Gambia are faced with numerous mental, neurological and psychosocial disorders that undermined development. Based on the prevalence rate from the World Mental Health Survey in 2004, it is estimated that approximately 27000 people in The Gambia (3% of the population aged 15 years and more) are suffering from severe mental disorders and a further 9100 (10% of the population aged 15 years and more) are suffering from moderate to mild mental disorders.
“This means that at least 118,000 people in The Gambia (13% of the adult population) are likely to be affected by mental disorders which require varying degrees of treatment and care.
“Mental health treatment and care should promote and protect the autonomy and liberty of people with mental disorders. People with mental disorders have the right to be treated in the most effective least restrictive and least intrusive manner. People with mental disorders, due to their particular vulnerability to human rights violations, may require specific legal and quasi-legal frameworks and safeguards to ensure that their human rights are promoted and protected.”
